1.
Avignon
–
Avignon is a commune in south-eastern France in the department of Vaucluse on the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 90,194 inhabitants of the city, about 12,000 live in the ancient town centre enclosed by its medieval ramparts. Between 1309 and 1377, during the Avignon Papacy, seven popes resided in Avignon. Papal control persisted until 1791 when, during the French Revolution, the town is now the capital of the Vaucluse department and one of the few French cities to have preserved its ramparts. The historic centre, which includes the Palais des Papes, the cathedral, the medieval monuments and the annual Festival dAvignon have helped to make the town a major centre for tourism. The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns, the earliest forms of the name were reported by the Greeks, Аὐενιὼν = Auenion Άουεννίων = Aouennion. The Roman name Avennĭo Cavarum, i. e. Avignon of Cavares accurately shows that Avignon was one of the three cities of the Celtic-Ligurian tribe of Cavares, along with Cavaillon and Orange. The current name dates to a pre-Indo-European or pre-Latin theme ab-ên with the suffix -i-ōn This theme would be a hydronym - i. e. a name linked to the river, but perhaps also an oronym of terrain. The site of Avignon has been occupied since the Neolithic period as shown by excavations at Rocher des Doms and the Balance district. In 1960 and 1961 excavations in the part of the Rocher des Doms directed by Sylvain Gagnière uncovered a small anthropomorphic stele. Carved in Burdigalian sandstone, it has the shape of a tombstone with its face engraved with a stylized human figure with no mouth. On the bottom, shifted slightly to the right is an indentation with eight radiating lines forming a solar representation - a unique discovery for this type of stele. There were also some Chalcolithic objects for adornment and an abundance of Hallstatt pottery shards which could have been native or imported, the name of the city dates back to around the 6th century BC. The first citation of Avignon was made by Artemidorus of Ephesus, although his book, The Journey, is lost it is known from the abstract by Marcian of Heraclea and The Ethnics, a dictionary of names of cities by Stephanus of Byzantium based on that book. He said, The City of Massalia, near the Rhone and this name has two interpretations, city of violent wind or, more likely, lord of the river. Other sources trace its origin to the Gallic mignon and the Celtic definitive article, Avignon was a simple Greek Emporium founded by Phocaeans from Marseille around 539 BC. It was in the 4th century BC that the Massaliotes began to sign treaties of alliance with some cities in the Rhone valley including Avignon and Cavaillon, a century later Avignon was part of the region of Massaliotes or country of Massalia. Fortified on its rock, the city later became and long remained the capital of the Cavares, with the arrival of the Roman legions in 120 BC. the Cavares, allies with the Massaliotes, became Roman
2.
Vaucluse
–
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. The name Vaucluse derives from the Latin Vallis Clausa as the valley ends in a cliff face from which emanates a spring whose origin is so far in. Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, the then rural department was, like the nearby city of Lyon, a hotbed of the French Resistance in World War II. Vaucluse is bordered by the Rhône to the west and the River Durance to the south, mountains occupy a significant proportion of the eastern half of the department, with Mont Ventoux, also known as the Giant of Provence, dominating the landscape. Other important mountain ranges include the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Monts de Vaucluse, fruit and vegetables are cultivated in great quantities in the lower-lying parts of the department, on one of the most fertile plains in southern France. The Vaucluse département has a large exclave within the Drôme department. Vaucluse is also known for its karst, including the karst spring Fontaine de Vaucluse after which Vauclusian Risings are named, important urban centres include Avignon, Orange, Carpentras, Cavaillon, and Apt
3.
Formula One
–
Formula One is the highest class of single-seat auto racing that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been the form of racing since the inaugural season in 1950. The formula, designated in the name, refers to a set of rules, the F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held worldwide on purpose-built F1 circuits and public roads. The results of each race are evaluated using a system to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers, one for constructors. The racing drivers are required to be holders of valid Super Licences, the races are required to be held on tracks graded 1, the highest grade a track can receive by the FIA. Most events are held in locations on purpose-built tracks, but there are several events in city centres throughout the world. Formula One cars are the fastest road racing cars in the world. Formula One cars race at speeds of up to approximately 375 km/h with engines currently limited in performance to a maximum of 15,000 RPM, the cars are capable of lateral acceleration in excess of five g in corners. The performance of the cars is very dependent on electronics – although traction control and other driving aids have been banned since 2008 – and on aerodynamics, suspension, the formula has radically evolved and changed through the history of the sport. F1 had a global television audience of 425 million people during the course of the 2014 season. Grand Prix racing began in 1906 and became the most popular internationally in the second half of the twentieth century. The Formula One Group is the holder of the commercial rights. Its high profile and popularity have created a major merchandising environment, since 2000 the sports spiraling expenditures and the distribution of prize money favoring established top teams have forced complaints from smaller teams and led several teams to bankruptcy. On 23 January 2017 it was confirmed that Liberty Media had completed its $8 billion acquisition of Delta Topco, the Formula One series originated with the European Grand Prix Motor Racing of the 1920s and 1930s. The formula is a set of rules that all cars must meet. Formula One was a new formula agreed upon after World War II during 1946, the first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958, national championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One events were held for years, but due to the increasing cost of competition
4.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
5.
Tyrrell Racing
–
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three Drivers Championships and one Constructors Championship with Jackie Stewart. The team never reached such heights again, although it continued to win races through the 1970s and into the early 1980s, the team was bought by British American Tobacco in 1997 and completed its final season as Tyrrell in 1998. Tyrrell Racing first came into being in 1958, running Formula Three cars for Ken Tyrrell, throughout the 1960s, Tyrrell moved through the lower formulas, variously giving single seater debuts to John Surtees and Jacky Ickx. But the teams most famous partnership was the one forged with Jackie Stewart, Tyrrell ran the BRM Formula Two operation throughout 1965,1966 and 1967 whilst Stewart was signed to the Formula One team. Tyrrell then signed a deal to run Formula Two cars made by French company Matra, Stewart was a serious contender, winning several Grands Prix in the Tyrrell-run Matra MS10. The cars most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks and these allowed the chassis to be around 15 kg lighter while still being stronger than its competitors. The FIA considered the technology to be unsafe and decided to ban it for 1970, for the 1969 championship, the Matra works team decided not to compete in Formula One. Matra would instead focus its efforts on Ken Tyrrells Matra International team and build a new DFV powered car with fuel tanks. Stewart won the 1969 title easily, driving the new Cosworth-powered Matra MS80 which corrected most of the weaknesses of the MS10, stewarts title was the first won by a French chassis, and the only one won by a chassis built in France. It was an achievement from a team and a constructor that had only entered Formula One the previous year. For the 1970 season following Matras merger with Simca, Tyrrell were asked by Matra to use their V12 rather than the Cosworth, Simca was a subsidiary of the American company Chrysler, a rival of Ford. Stewart tested the Matra V12 and found it inferior to the DFV, Tyrrell was still sponsored by French fuel company Elf, and Tyrrell would retain the traditional French blue racing colours for most of the rest of its existence. Tyrrell and Stewart ran the March-Fords throughout 1970 with mixed success, while Derek Gardner worked on the first in-house Tyrrell Grand Prix car at the woodshed in Ockham, the Tyrrell 001, which bore much resemblance to the MS80, emerged at the end of 1970. It earned Stewart a pole position in the Canadian GP but suffered mechanical failures in all of its 3 race starts, the nearly identical Tyrrell 003 won both Drivers and Constructors Championships in 1971, with strong driving from Jackie Stewart and François Cevert. Stewarts 1972 challenge was ruined by an ulcer, but he returned to full fitness in 1973. He and Cevert finishing 1st and 4th in the Championship, tragedy struck on 6 October 1973, as Cevert was killed in practice for the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Stewart, who was to retire at the end of the season, at the end of the season Stewart made public his decision to retire, a decision that was already made before the US Grand Prix
6.
Scuderia Ferrari
–
Scuderia Ferrari S. p. A. competing as Scuderia Ferrari is the official name of the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer, Ferrari, and competes in Formula One racing. It is the oldest surviving and most successful Formula One team, the team was founded by Enzo Ferrari, initially to race cars produced by Alfa Romeo, though by 1947 Ferrari had begun building its own cars. As a constructor, Ferrari has a record 16 Constructors Championships, Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen have won a record 15 Drivers Championships for the team. Since Räikkönens title in 2007 the team narrowly lost out on the 2008 drivers title with Felipe Massa, Schumacher is the teams most successful driver. Joining the team in 1996 and departing in 2006 he won five titles and 72 Grands Prix for the team. His titles came consecutively between 2000 and 2004, including the constructors title of 1999 consecutively being won until the end of 2004, this was the teams most successful period. Currently, World Champions Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel are the two race drivers. The team is known for its passionate support base known as the tifosi. The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is regarded as the home race. The Scuderia Ferrari team was founded by Enzo Ferrari on 16 November 1929 and became the team of Alfa Romeo. In 1938, Alfa Romeo management made the decision to enter racing under its own name, establishing the Alfa Corse organisation, Enzo Ferrari disagreed with this change in policy and was finally dismissed by Alfa in 1939. The terms of his leaving forbade him from motorsport under his own name, in 1939 Ferrari started work on a racecar of his own, the Tipo 815. The 815s, designed by Alberto Massimino, were thus the first Ferrari cars, World War II put a temporary end to racing, and Ferrari concentrated on an alternative use for his factory during the war years, doing machine tool work. After the war, Ferrari recruited several of his former Alfa colleagues and established a new Scuderia Ferrari, the team owns and operates a test track on the same site, the Fiorano Circuit built in 1972, which is used for testing road and race cars. The team is named after its founder, Enzo Ferrari, Scuderia is Italian for a stable reserved for racing horses and is also commonly applied to Italian motor racing teams. In 1947 Ferrari constructed the 12-cylinder,1.5 L Tipo 125, a Formula One version of the Tipo 125, the Ferrari 125 F1 was developed in 1948 and entered in several Grand Prix, at the time a World Championship had not yet been established. In 1950, the Formula One World Championship was established, and it is the only team to have competed in every season of the World Championship, from its inception to the current day. The company later switched to the large-displacement naturally aspirated formula for the 275,340, after the 1951 Formula One season the Alfa team withdrew from F1, causing the authorities to adopt the Formula Two regulations due to the lack of suitable F1 cars
7.
Benetton Formula
–
Benetton Formula Ltd. commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from 1986 to 2001. The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for the 2000 and 2001 seasons, in 2002 the team became Renault F1. The Benetton Group entered Formula One as a company for Tyrrell in 1983, then Alfa Romeo in 1984 and 1985. Benetton Formula Ltd. was formed at the end of 1985 when the Toleman team was sold to the Benetton family, the team began with BMW engines and then later switched to Ford then Renault and finally Playlife. The team was managed by Flavio Briatore from 1990 until 1997, in about 1991, TWR acquired a one-third stake in the team, bringing in Tom Walkinshaw and Ross Brawn to run the engineering operations. Rocco Benetton, the youngest son of Luciano Benetton joined the team as Chief Executive in 1998 and he replaced him with Prodrive boss David Richards, who lasted only for a year when he too was fired, due to a disagreement with the Benetton family about future strategy. Following Richards departure, Rocco Benetton managed the team for three years until its sale to Renault, the Benetton team is best known for its success with Michael Schumacher, who accounts for 19 of the teams 27 career victories and their 2 drivers championships. After switching to Renault engines, they won the constructors championship in 1995 with Schumacher. After 1995, Schumacher moved to Ferrari along with Ross Brawn, on 16 March 2000, the team was sold to Renault for $120 million US. As part of their restructuring, Renault brought back Flavio Briatore as team manager, the team still used the Playlife engines they had been using for the last two years. The drivers were Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz, the team scored 20 points, as well as 3 podium finishes in 2000 at Brazil, Monaco and Canada. During their final season in 2001 the drivers, Jenson Button and this was in part attributed to the new 111-degree wide angle engine. But continued development allowed Benetton to leave Formula 1 on something of a high, Button and Fisichella scored 10 points for the team, including a podium finish for Fisichella in Belgium. During the 1994 season, some teams claimed Benetton had found a way to violate the FIA-imposed ban on electronic aids, including traction control. On investigation, the FIA discovered start sequence software in the Benetton B194 cars, FIA had no evidence the software was ever used, so teams found with the software received little to no punishment. No traction control software was found to be in the Benetton cars, Flavio Briatore, Benettons chief in 1994, said in 2001 that Our only mistake was that at the time we were too young and people were suspicious. During the 1994 season Benetton removed a fuel filter from the rig used during pit stops
8.
Sauber
–
Sauber Motorsport AG, competing as Sauber F1 Team, is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing, Swiss investment firm Longbow Finance S. A. are the current majority owners of Sauber. Having not won a Grand Prix as an independent, the team was sold to BMW in 2005, and competed as BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2009, scoring one victory. At the end of the 2009 season, however, BMW pulled out of Formula One, however, due to issues with the Concorde Agreement, the team remained as BMW Sauber for the 2010 season. In March 2010, Peter Sauber announced plans to change the name during the season. At the beginning of the 2011 Formula One season the team dropped BMW from their name. Peter Sauber sold his controlling 66. 6% stake in the team, with the remainder belonging to CEO Monisha Kaltenborn also being sold, the team was sold during the 2016 season to investment firm Longbow Finance. Pascal Picci took over Peter Saubers role as chairman of the board and president, with Kaltenborn remaining as Team principal, Peter Sauber began building sports cars in the 1970s. After using turbocharged Mercedes V8 engines in the 1980s, his became the official factory team of Mercedes-Benz. They won the 24 hours of Le Mans and the World Sports Prototype Championship, competing against Jaguar, among others, drivers such as Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Jochen Mass, Jean-Louis Schlesser and Mauro Baldi raced for Sauber. Sauber participated in a number of racing series before its involvement in Formula One, including the Swiss Sportscar Championship. The first Sauber car, C1, was built in 1970, Sauber, in partnership with Mercedes, won the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1989 and the World Sports Prototype Championship in 1989 and 1990 with the Sauber C9 and Mercedes-Benz C11 respectively. Sauber also built a Group 5 version of BMW M1 The first turbo era of Formula One ended with the 1988 Formula One season, the 1. 5-litre turbocharged engines were phased out in favour of normally aspirated 3. 5-litre engines. Other projects never progressed beyond design studies, such as one carried out by Simtek for BMW and it was a turbulent time that led to the withdrawal of many small teams and even more famous marques such as Brabham and Lotus. A planned Mercedes collaboration with Sauber to enter their own Formula One team was shelved, the team was to be powered by V10 Ilmor engines in a chassis dubbed the C12, a continuation of Saubers naming policy from sports car construction. It was to be piloted by JJ Lehto and Karl Wendlinger, the cars racing debut took place in the first race of 1993, in South Africa. The car was soon turning heads not only for its sharp FW14-like lines and striking black livery but its impressive performance, despite this impressive entrance to the grand prix scene, over the remainder of the season the team rarely saw the finish line due to unreliability and racing accidents. However, they proved their form was not a flash in the pan recording a slow stream of points finishes, despite not achieving a podium, they ended the season with twelve points, seventh out of the thirteen original entries
9.
Prost Grand Prix
–
Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team owned and managed by former world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001, Alain Prost completed the purchase of the Ligier team in early 1997, and immediately changed the name to Prost. An exclusive contract for Peugeot engines was announced for 1998, as there was no time before the season started to design and build a new car, the team simply used the Ligier JS45 designed by Loïc Bigois and renamed it the Prost JS45. Podium finishes in Brazil and Spain for Olivier Panis promised much, with its lead driver forced to miss much of the season, Prost struggled with novices Jarno Trulli and Shinji Nakano until Paniss return at the Luxembourg Grand Prix. 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve later remarked that in the year of his title victory, had Panis completed the full year, Prost may well have won a race. After such a promising 1997, things took a turn for the worse in the following seasons, to back this up, Panis had been fastest in Spain, and was running right behind Villeneuve in Argentina when his car gave up on him. He was close to winning in Canada too as his Bridgestone tyres were better equipped than the Goodyear tyred cars around him, after serious gearbox problems in testing, the team almost did not start the 1998 season-opener as their car still had to pass a crash-test. They made it to the Australian Grand Prix, but the season proved to be a failure, only Trullis sixth at Spa kept the team from last in the standings. 1999 saw an improvement, several points finishes achieved and a second place coming by way of Trullis strong drive at the Nürburgring, in the first few races, the team also ran with X-wings. At times the car looked genuinely competitive with strong qualifying displays, yet the results often failed to materialise. At Magny-Cours Panis had started third, but was unable to capitalise, Trulli was under contract for 2000, but the teams relative lack of success enabled him to leave for Jordan. Panis was dropped and went on to become McLarens tester, in 2000 the team began its sharp decline into oblivion. Veteran racer Jean Alesi, Prosts former teammate at Ferrari in 1991, was signed to the team, the team also signed up rookie F3000 champion Nick Heidfeld for 2000. Despite a promising driver lineup, Prost finished last in the Constructors Championship, Heidfeld was disqualified from the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring for his car being two kilos underweight. At the Austrian Grand Prix their two drivers crashed into other, putting them both out of the race. The relationship between Prost and Peugeot collapsed, in 2001 the cars now ran with Acer-badged Ferrari engines. It was his best finish with the team, a fallout after the British Grand Prix, however, saw Alesi walk out after the German Grand Prix. For his final race with Prost, Alesi scored another point in that race of attrition
10.
Jordan Grand Prix
–
Jordan Grand Prix was an Irish Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan, Jordan and his team were well known for a rock and roll attitude which added colour and character to Formula One in the 1990s. Eddie Jordan had a stint as a race driver in the late 1970s before founding Eddie Jordan Racing in the early 1980s. The team graduated to International Formula 3000 for 1988, winning its first race in the category with Johnny Herbert, in 1989, Jordan won the F3000 drivers championship with future Formula One star Jean Alesi. The team also ran future F1 drivers such as Martin Donnelly, Jordans success in lower formulae inspired the creation of a Formula One programme for the 1991 season and a change of name to Jordan Grand Prix. The first driver to test a Jordan F1 car was veteran Ulsterman John Watson, Jordan hired Italian veteran Andrea de Cesaris and Belgian Bertrand Gachot to race his first cars, which were powered by Ford. The team had a solid debut finishing 5th in the Constructors Championship. De Cesaris ran second for much of the Belgian Grand Prix, Gachot failed to end the season after being sent to prison for attacking a taxi driver. Despite Jordans signed agreement in principle with Mercedes for the remainder of the season, Jordan applied for an injunction in the UK courts to prevent Schumacher driving for Benetton, but lost the case as they had not yet signed a contract. Future Champ Car title winner Alessandro Zanardi and ousted Benetton driver Roberto Moreno filled the second car afterwards, success for Jordan literally came at a high price. The team was forced to switch to cheaper Yamaha engines for the 1992 season, with Maurício Gugelmin and Stefano Modena driving, the team struggled badly and failed to score a point until the final race of the season. 1993 saw further changes, with the team again changing engine suppliers, again, the season started with two new drivers, Ivan Capelli and Brazilian rookie Rubens Barrichello. Capelli left after two races and Barrichello saw five other drivers become team mates of his during the 1993 campaign, Jordan only had moderate improvement, scoring three points. Signs of stability were beginning to show near the end of the season when Barrichello was joined by Eddie Irvine, the Ulsterman finished sixth and secured a point on his debut Formula One race at Suzuka. It was further memorable because Irvine unlapped himself against McLarens Ayrton Senna, Barrichello and Irvine returned for the 1994 season, as did the Hart engines, but Irvine had a bad start to the season, earning a three-race ban for reckless driving. Barrichello earned the team their first top three finish in Japan at the Pacific Grand Prix, but was killed during the following race in San Marino following a frightening qualifying crash. The team overcame these difficulties and returned to their form as they finished fifth in the Constructors Championship again. Barrichello earned Jordans first pole position after a gamble during a wet qualifying session in Belgium, Jordan switched to Peugeot power in 1995
11.
1989 French Grand Prix
–
The 1989 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 9 July 1989. In a press conference before the weekend, Alain Prost announced that he would be leaving McLaren at the end of the season with the speculation being that he would join Ferrari in 1990. The race saw four drivers replaced by making their first Formula One start. Pirros appointment caused some unhappy faces among Benetton team management who allegedly had wanted a British driver to replace Herbert and they were overruled however by the team owners, the Italian Benetton Group who wanted an Italian driver. As a contracted McLaren test driver, Pirro needed permission to race for another Formula One Team, despite being allegedly unhappy, the Benetton team would become very impressed with Pirros testing abilities as he helped sort out the new Benetton B189 which Alessandro Nannini debuted in France. Pirro continued to drive the older B188 until a second B189 was made two races later in Germany. On the other hand, Brabham, who had generally dominated pre-qualifying, struggled with their Pirelli tyres at the abrasive Paul Ricard Circuit, stefano Modena only just pre-qualified, while Martin Brundle failed to pre-qualify for the second race in a row. The Dallara of Alex Caffi was the driver to qualify for the main field. Alliot, and with a point to prove, responded by qualifying a career high 7th, until that point it was a career best showing for Larrousse and its new for 1989 Lola LC89 chassis with its also new for 1989 Lamborghini V12 engine. In an indication of Pirellis struggles in France, only three cars using the Italian rubber made the race, caffis fast and experienced team mate Andrea de Cesaris, who had finished third at the previous race in Canada, failed to qualify his Pirelli shod Dallara-Ford. There was actually a little noticed second accident at the first turn as René Arnoux used Jonathan Palmers Tyrrell to retard the progress of his Ligier JS33, launching his front wheels in the air. Amazingly with Gugelmin still in his car, the French marshals then tipped the March back onto its wheels, all of the drivers involved took the restart, some in spare cars. Alain Prost won the race for McLaren-Honda, ahead of Nigel Mansell who started from the pit lane in Gerhard Bergers race car, Jean Alesi became an instant star when he drove his Tyrrell to 4th place and scored points on his F1 debut. Twelve cars failed to finish the race, seven of them with engine failures, One who failed to finish, or even restart, was World Champion Ayrton Senna, his McLarens differential failed as the cars got away for the second start. Senna actually got away, but as he changed to second gear the diff broke and it was the third Grand Prix in succession where Senna had retired due to mechanical failure and was the shortest Grand Prix of his illustrious career. Prosts second win for the season gave him an 11-point lead over Senna in the Drivers Championship, the race was Alain Prosts fourth win on home soil after wins at Dijon in 1981 and Paul Ricard in 1983 for Renault, and 1988 for McLaren. Note, Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings
12.
1995 Canadian Grand Prix
–
The 1995 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 11 June 1995 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. It was the race of the 1995 Formula One season. It produced the only Grand Prix victory for French driver Jean Alesi and this was seen as a popular victory, as Alesi had waited over five years for a victory and he was driving the red number 27 Ferrari, as driven by Canadian Gilles Villeneuve. Adding to the victory was the fact that the win occurred on Alesis 31st birthday. This race also marked the last time to date that a Grand Prix was won by a car with a V12 engine, Michael Schumacher led until a late problem with his gearbox necessitated a long pit stop. Several other regular front-runners had problems, allowing both Jordans to finish on the podium for the first time in their history, jordan had scored their first-ever GP points in Montreal 4 years earlier. After Alesi crossed the line, race fans broke through the fences. Race officials put out the flag, effectively requiring all drivers to immediately stop on the track. However, Alesi was now entering the hairpin at the far end of the circuit on his victory lap, running out of fuel, he removed his steering wheel, stood on top of the car and surfed it to a stop. Schumacher, approaching from behind, stopped and gave Alesi a lift back to the pits on top of his car, also, that Sunday evening, the first rumours started circulating that Michael Schumacher had signed a multimillion-dollar contract with Ferrari for 1996. The race was run over 69 laps, but the results were declared after 68 laps because of crowd invasion just after Alesi had finished. In original results, Luca Badoer finished in 7th, ahead of Mika Salo who had stopped next to the pit wall to avoid hitting spectators. One thing that was noted in the build-up to the weekend was the bumpiness of the circuit. Schumachers pole position was the 100th for a Renault powered car, the 30-minute warm-up session was held in wet conditions, with rain constantly falling since the early morning, the first time rain had fallen over the Grand Prix weekend. Hill was one of the few drivers to make a mistake, hills Williams teammate David Coulthard spun at the previous corner later in the session, while Bertrand Gachot also ran into the gravel trap. After a brief stay in the pits, an animated Hill went back onto the track, only to go off into the gravel trap, due to the changing weather conditions, the order was mixed, with the Ferraris of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger in first and third. Rubens Barrichello split them in second, with Schumacher fourth, the Saubers of Heinz Harald Frentzen and Jean-Christophe Boullion were 6th and 7th, with Luca Badoer in the Minardi rounding out the top 8. The two Williams drivers eventually finished in 12th and 16th, the race started at 14,00 EDT
13.
2001 Japanese Grand Prix
–
The 2001 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 October 2001 at the Suzuka Circuit. It was the seventeenth and final race of the 2001 Formula One season and it was the 28th Japanese Grand Prix and the 17th to be held at Suzuka. It was held over 53 laps of the six kilometre circuit for a distance of 311 kilometres. The race was won by the World Champion, German driver Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari F2001 after starting from pole position and it was Schumachers fourth victory in the Japanese Grand Prix, his third for Ferrari and his ninth for the 2001 season. Schumacher won by three seconds over Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya in a Williams FW23, third was taken by British driver David Coulthard in a McLaren MP4-16, having overtaken his teammate Mika Häkkinen late in the race. Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher completed the points finishers, enrique Bernoldi and Alex Yoong started the race from the pit lane. The race marked Jean Alesis 201st and last Formula One race after a fourteen-year career, kimi Räikkönen spun off on lap five, forcing Alesi off in avoidance at the Dunlop Curve. It was Alesis only retirement of the season and it was, additionally, the last race for the French Prost Grand Prix team as they went bankrupt and closed down during the following off-season. It brought an end to the team began as Equipe Ligier 32 years earlier and 26 years of Formula One racing. Mika Häkkinen scored his last ever World Championship points at this race, bold text indicates the World Champions. Note, Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings
14.
24 Hours of Le Mans
–
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the worlds oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France. It is one of the most prestigious races in the world and is often called the Grand Prix of Endurance. The event represents one leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, other events being the Indianapolis 500, since 2012, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. In 2017, it will be the round of the season. The race has over the years inspired imitating races all over the globe, popularizing the 24-hour format at places like Daytona, Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps, and Bathurst. The American Le Mans Series and Europes Le Mans Series of multi-event sports car championships were spun off from 24 Hours of Le Mans regulations. At a time when Grand Prix motor racing was the dominant form of motorsport throughout Europe, Le Mans was designed to present a different test. Instead of focusing on the ability of a car company to build the fastest machines and this encouraged innovation in producing reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles, because endurance racing requires cars that last and spend as little time in the pits as possible. At the same time, the layout of the track necessitated cars with better aerodynamics, while this was shared with Grand Prix racing, few tracks in Europe had straights of a length comparable to the Mulsanne. Additionally, because the road is public and thus not as meticulously maintained as permanent racing circuits, racing puts more strain on the parts, increasing the importance of reliability. The oil crisis in the early 1970s led organizers to adopt a fuel economy formula known as Group C that limited the amount of each car was allowed. Although it was abandoned, fuel economy remains important as new fuel sources reduced time spent during pit stops. Such technological innovations have had an effect and can be incorporated into consumer cars. This has also led to faster and more exotic supercars as manufacturers seek to develop road cars in order to develop them into even faster GT cars. Additionally, in recent years hybrid systems have been championed in the LMP category as rules have changed to their benefit. The race is held in June, leading at times to very hot conditions for drivers, particularly in closed vehicles with poor ventilation, the race begins in mid-afternoon and finishes the following day at the same hour the race started the previous day. Over the 24 hours, modern competitors often cover distances well over 5,000 km, the record is 2010s 5,410 km, six times the length of the Indianapolis 500, or approximately 18 times longer than a Formula One Grand Prix. Drivers and racing teams strive for speed and avoiding damage, as well as managing the cars consumables, primarily fuel, tires
15.
1989 24 Hours of Le Mans
–
The 198924 Hours of Le Mans was the 57th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1989. The speeds on the Mulsanne Straight were so high that many of the drivers were concerned if their cars would stay on the ground over the humps and bumps of the straight, fortunately, there were no serious accidents, something Le Mans in the 1980s had many of. Having run his cars at Le Mans for a decade, Peter Sauber was aided by Mercedes in winning the 1989 race and his Silver Arrows Sauber C9s finished 1st, 2nd and 5th, with Porsches and Jaguars finishing behind. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winners distance marked as Not Classified
16.
2010 24 Hours of Le Mans
–
The 201024 Hours of Le Mans was the 78th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, also known as the Grand Prix of Endurance. The race took place on 12–13 June 2010 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France, fifty-six cars participated in the event, organized into four categories. This race was attended by an estimated 238,850 spectators, audis victory marked a new overall distance record, as well as marking the 9th time Audi has won the race, tying Ferrari for 2nd all time in terms of number of overall victories by car manufacturer. An automatic invitation was also awarded to the team which accumulated the most points in the Michelin Green X Challenge as part of the Le Mans Series, the award was based on fuel economy of competitors during each event. On 19 November 2009 the ACO published their automatic invitations to 29 teams, of the 29 automatic entries awarded,21 were accepted by their respective teams in February. Teams which did not accept their automatic invitation are denoted in blue, on 4 February 2010, the ACO released their first official entry list of 55 cars plus ten reserves. A total of 85 entries had been submitted to the ACO, teams had until 12 May to complete their full lineup of drivers. A new element to the reserves list for 2010 was that the ten were divided evenly with five LMPs, rather than the first reserve replacing a car of any class, a withdrawing LMP could only be replaced by another LMP and the same applied to GTs. The first entry to be withdrawn from the list was the Dome LMP1, on 6 May, the Team Modena Ferrari entry was withdrawn allowing the No.88 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche into the race. The KSM LMP2, the second Matech Competition Ford, and the second AF Corse Ferrari were all allowed into the entry, on 28 May, the ACO confirmed the completion of an additional pit garage in time for the race. A reserve entry for Race Performance was initially granted before the team was promoted on 2 June to the full entry, the 56 field entry included many of the manufacturer teams, most notably in the LMP1 category. Both Peugeot and Audi entered three cars, while Peugeot also included a 908 HDi FAP run privately by the Oreca squad. Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz returned in the No.1 Peugeot as the race winners. Audi, in an attempt to not repeat from their loss the previous year, Aston Martins entry was downsized from the previous year with just two factory entries, while a third car was privately entered by the Signature-Plus squad. Other major entries in the LMP1 category included a duo of Kolles Audi R10s once again, Team Oreca, despite running a Peugeot, also entered one of their 01 chassis with the AIM engine. Former Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell also brought his own team with a Ginetta-Zytek, the LMP2 category featured the return of Honda to Le Mans for the first time since 1996, with Honda Performance Developments ARX-01 chassis being entered by Strakka Racing and Highcroft Racing. Highcroft also made their debut at Le Mans, coming off winning the LMP1 championship in the American Le Mans Series, HPD also supplied a RML with their engine, although this was used in the teams Lola chassis instead. OAK Racing provided the two car team in the category, leading development of the Pescarolo 01 chassis and switching from Mazda to Judd engines
17.
Vern Schuppan
–
Vernon Vern Schuppan is a retired Australian motor racing driver. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500, after a successful karting career in which he won numerous Australian state and national titles, Schuppan made the decision to pursue a career in motor racing. He and his wife Jennifer ventured to Great Britain to allow him to participate in the British Formula Atlantic Championship, in 1974 Schuppan went to Team Ensign, débuting again in the Belgian Grand Prix where he finished in 15th position. In Monaco he retired on lap four because of an accident, Schuppan failed to qualify in France or Britain. He retired in Germany on lap four because of gearbox problems, in 1975 he raced in one race in Sweden for Embassy Racing With Graham Hill team, retiring from the race with transmission problems. In 1977 Schuppan raced for Surtees, finishing 12th in Britain and he finished 16th in Austria, but failed to qualify for his final Formula One race in the Netherlands. Schuppan has had a successful sports car career, winning the 198324 Hours of Le Mans for Porsches official factory team with Al Holbert. Holbert drove the final lap of the race with an engine caused by an airflow blockage to the radiator that cooled the heads. The second placed car, the #1 Rothmans Porsche of defending winners Jacky Ickx, by winning Le Mans in 1983, Schuppan became only the second Australian to win the French classic, following in the footsteps of 1928 winner Bernard Rubin. Although Rubin was born in Australia, Schuppan is often mistaken for being the first Aussie winner. Vern Schuppan also finished second at Le Mans in 1977 driving a Mirage GR8-Renault turbo with French F1 driver Jean-Pierre Jarier and he also finished third in 1975 with Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in a Mirage GR8-Ford Cosworth DFV. After winning at Le Mans, Schuppan went on to win the 1983 Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship and he then pitted for Schuppan to run the car to the flag. Schuppan got in one and a half laps before the car broke a conrod with just 90 minutes left to run. Schuppan also placed third in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship in 1984,1985 and 1986, Schuppan competed in three Indianapolis 500 races. These were 1976,1979 and 1981, with a best result of third in 1981 driving a McLaren-Ford, in all, he started 32 CART and USAC Championship races. He won the 1974 and 1976 Macau Grand Prix races, dominating the 1974 race and he also won the 1971 British Formula Atlantic Championship and the Singapore Grand Prix in 1973. He was second in 1972 and also second in the Malaysian Grand Prix in 1972 and he raced Formula 5000 in Europe between 1974-1975 and in North America 1974-1976 with some success. In his home country Australia, Schuppan won the 1976 Rothmans International Series run for Formula 5000 cars, driving a Lola T332-Chevrolet
18.
AF Corse
–
AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. The team has also entered cars under Advanced Engineering, AT Racing, Pecom Racing, Spirit of Race and 8Star Motorsports, in 1995, Amato Ferrari retired from driving and chose to concentrate on team management, initially entering the Italian Superturismo Championship. Following the series demise in 1999, Ferrari launched a new team known as AF Corse, the team turned to sports car racing, and within a year was contracted by Maserati. AF Corse was tasked with the development, maintenance, and transport of the Trofeo Cup, the company would continue in this position until 2005. During 2004, Maserati approached AF Corse about running their latest development in sports car racing, the team aided Maserati in testing and developing the car before running the two new racers in their home event at Imola. Drivers Fabrizio de Simone, Andrea Bertolini, Mika Salo, and Johnny Herbert were all be assigned to the team, eventually earning AF Corse two victories before the season ended. Once the development of the MC12 was satisfied, the returned to running the Trofeo Cup. AF Corse returned to the FIA GT Championship in 2006 and this time however they would be running the latest Ferrari offering, the Ferrari F430, as well as competing in the series lower category, the GT2 class. Salo was retained in the driving line-up, while newcomers Rui Águas, Jaime Melo, victory was earned in the teams debut at Silverstone, and another two were earned over the season, including at the Spa 24 Hours. AF Corse won the championship, beating fellow Ferrari competitor Scuderia Ecosse. The company retained their connection to Maserati however, entering a trio of cars in the new FIA GT3 European Championship, as defending champions, AF Corse remained in the FIA GT Championship in 2007, although much on the team changed. While the Ferrari F430s remained, all new drivers were introduced to the team, dirk Müller, Toni Vilander, Gianmaria Bruni, and Stephane Ortelli took over driving duties for the season, while Motorola announced their full sponsorship of the squad. The two cars dominated the 2007 season, winning nine of the ten events on the schedule, for 2008, AF Corse expanded to a three car team in the GT2 class. Vilander and Bruni are retained in the car, while Biagi returns to the squad to be joined by Christian Montanari in the second entry. The third car will be run under the Advanced Engineering name, with Argentinian Matías Russo, in 2010, the FIA GT Championship was dissolved and two new championships were born from it. The GT1 class of the series became the FIA GT1 World Championship while the GT2 class formed the FIA GT2 European Championship. The GT2 series was suspended due to lack of entries, as a result, the AF Corse team joined the Le Mans Series. For the 2010 season, the team fielded three Ferrari F430 GT2s for the series GT2 class, drivers Matías Russo and Luís Pérez Companc campaigned the #94 Ferrari with Toni Vilander and former Grand Prix drivers Jean Alesi and Giancarlo Fisichella in the #95
19.
IndyCar Series
–
The IndyCar Series is the premier level of open wheel racing in North America. Its parent company began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League which was created by then Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, in 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with the Champ Car World Series. The series is sanctioned by INDYCAR, due to the legal settlement with CART, the Indy Racing League was unable to utilize the name IndyCar until the beginning of the 2003 season. For 1996–1997, the series was referred to as the Indy Racing League. For 1998–1999, the series garnered its first title sponsor, and was advertised as the Pep Boys Indy Racing League, the contract was not renewed after the second year. In 2000, the series sold its rights to Internet search engine Northern Light for five seasons. After only two seasons, however, the agreement ended when Northern Light reevaluated its business plan. The league reverted to the Indy Racing League name for the 2002 season, the IndyCar Series name was officially adopted beginning in 2003, as the series was now legally entitled to use it. Simmons also co-authored the new IndyCar theme song, I Am Indy, izod was announced as the series title sponsor beginning on November 5,2009. Exact financial terms were not disclosed but the deal is worth at least $10 million per year, izod ended its sponsorship after the 2013 season. On March 14,2014, Verizon Wireless was announced as the title sponsor. Since the series inception, IndyCar Series events have been broadcast in the United States on several networks, including ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports Networks, and Spike. Beginning in 2009, NBCSN began a 10-year deal to broadcast 13 IndyCar races per season, whereas the remaining races, including the Indianapolis 500, would remain on ABC through 2018. As of the 2016 season, ABC airs 5 races per season, in the United Kingdom, since the launch of BT Sport in August 2013 races are shown on one of the BT branded channels or ESPN. Previous to August 2013, the IndyCar Series races were broadcasts on the Sky Sports family of networks, the IndyCar Series also had highlights of all the races on the channel Five British terrestrial channel and Five USA, but has since been discontinued since the 2009 season. In Portugal, all of the IndyCar Series are broadcast on Sport TV, in February 2013, Sportsnet announced that it would become the official Canadian broadcaster of the IndyCar Series beginning in the 2013 season in a five-year deal with the series. The new contract will include broadcasts on the Sportsnet regional networks, Sportsnet One, additionally, Sportsnet would also originate coverage from the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Indianapolis 500, and Honda Indy Toronto with Bill Adam, Todd Lewis, and Rob Faulds. Canadian driver Paul Tracy also joined Sportsnet as an analyst, rede Bandeirantes serves as the Brazilian broadcast partner in that country since 1989
20.
2012 IndyCar Series
–
The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 17th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 101st season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 96th Indianapolis 500, held on Sunday, May 27, the series was sanctioned by IndyCar, and took place in three countries on two continents. Three-time defending IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti entered the season seeking his fourth consecutive championship, meanwhile, two-time championship runner up Will Power sought his first title. Heading into the race of the season, Power led Ryan Hunter-Reay by 17 points in a two driver fight for the championship. After Power wrecked on lap 55, Hunter-Reay was able to finish 4th, among the numerous stories going into the season was the departure of Danica Patrick, who left IndyCar to compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Joining the series was former Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello, a highlight of the season was the introduction of a new chassis and engine package. After losing Las Vegas as a venue in the aftermath of the death of Dan Wheldon, in addition, midway through the season, the inaugural Indy Qingdao 600 scheduled to take place in China was cancelled by the promoter. The 2012 season saw the implementation of Indycars new ICONIC Plan, the car used through 2011, a 2003/2007-model Dallara IR-05, and naturally aspirated V8 engines were permanently retired. IndyCar accepted proposals from BAT Engineering, Dallara, DeltaWing, Lola, on July 14,2010, the final decision was made public, with organisers accepting the Dallara proposal. Under the new ICONIC regulations, all teams compete with a core rolling chassis, called the IndyCar Safety Cell. Teams will then outfit the chassis with separate body work, referred to as Aero Kits, which consist of front and rear wings, sidepods, Development of Aero Kits is open to any manufacturer, with all packages to be made available to all teams for a maximum price. ICONIC committee member Tony Purnell gave an invitation to car manufacturers and companies such as Lockheed Martin. The IndyCar Safety cell will be capped at a price of $349,000 and will be assembled at a new Dallara facility in Speedway, Aero Kits will be capped at $70,000. Teams have the option of buying a complete Dallara safety cell/aero kit for a discounted price, on May 12,2011, Dallara unveiled the first concept cars, one apiece in oval and road course Aero Kit configuration. On April 30,2011, IndyCar owners voted 15–0 to reject the introduction of multiple Aero Kits for the 2012 season, citing costs. On August 14,2011, IndyCar confirmed that the introduction of multiple Aero Kits would be delayed until 2013 for economic reasons, Chevrolet and Lotus had already announced their intention to build aero kits. 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon carried out the first official test of the Dallara chassis at Mid-Ohio in August 2011, following Wheldons death at the season-ending race in Las Vegas, Dallara announced that the 2012 chassis would be named the DW12 in his honor. Turbocharger returns to IndyCar Series since 1996 season, the engines are 2.2 L V6 turbocharged engines, tuned to produce a range of 550–700 horsepower with a 12,000 RPM limit
21.
2012 Indianapolis 500
–
The 96th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 27,2012. It was the event of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season. For the first time since 1996 all entries featured turbocharged engines and this was the first time since 2003, and only the fourth time since 1985, that all cars were a new model-year chassis. The track opened for practice on Saturday May 12, Time trials were held May 19–20. Ryan Briscoe of Penske Racing qualified for the pole position, the final practice, traditionally dubbed Carb Day, was held Friday May 25. Dario Franchitti, who won the race in 2007 and 2010, won the event. On the final lap, second place Takuma Sato challenged Franchitti for the lead in turn one, as the two cars were side by side, Franchitti closed Satos space to pass, resulting in his car clipping Satos. Sato then spun and crashed into the outside wall, Sato finished in 17th, while Franchitti went on to take the victory. Franchittis teammate Scott Dixon finished second, sweeping a 1-2 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing, the race set an all-time record with 34 lead changes. Franchittis win represented the ninth consecutive Indy victory for Honda, despite the presence of multiple engine manufacturers for the first time since 2005, Dario Franchitti won his first Indianapolis 500 with Brembo-equipped brakes. For the first time since 1947, the years race winner had been killed in a racing crash in the time between races. Defending race winner Dan Wheldon was killed in a crash during the 2011 season finale. Several winners have missed the following due to either retirements, injuries. The last time the champion did not participate in the race due to injury or death was 2004 race winner Buddy Rice, who suffered a concussion during practice. Due to safety concerns, IndyCar officials announced in the 2012 State of IndyCar address that restarts would revert to single-file for the two ovals whose distance is at least two miles or greater. Jim Nabors, who has traditionally sung Back Home Again in Indiana during the ceremonies in most years since 1972, was not able to attend the race due to health reasons. The Speedway sent a crew to record him performing the song at his home in Hawaiʻi. Going into the month, there was growing concern about filling the field to the traditional 33 cars and this was due in part to the struggles of Lotus, and lease issues in the first year of the new engine package, namely involving Dragon Racing
22.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
–
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, in the United States. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 and it is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately six miles west of Downtown Indianapolis. Constructed in 1909, it is the original speedway, the first racing facility so named and it has a permanent seating capacity estimated at 235,000 with infield seating raising capacity to an approximate 400,000. It is the highest-capacity sports venue in the world, considered relatively flat by American standards, the track is a 2. 5-mile-long rectangular oval with dimensions that have remained essentially unchanged since its construction. A modern infield road course was completed in 2000, incorporating part of the oval, including the mainstretch, in 2008, and again in 2014, the road course layout was modified to accommodate motorcycle racing, as well as to improve competition. Altogether, the current grounds have expanded from an original 320 acres on which the speedway was first built to cover an area of over 559 acres. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, in addition to the Indianapolis 500, the speedway also hosts NASCARs Brickyard 400 and Lilly Diabetes 250. From 2000 to 2007, the hosted the Formula One United States Grand Prix. On the grounds of the speedway is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which opened in 1956, the museum moved into its current building located in the infield in 1976. Also on the grounds is the Brickyard Crossing Golf Resort, which opened as the Speedway Golf Course in 1929. The golf course has 14 holes outside of the track, along the backstretch, the speedway also served as the venue for the opening ceremonies for the 1987 Pan American Games. Fisher began thinking of a means of testing cars before delivering them to consumers. At the time, racing was just getting started on horse tracks, Fisher noticed how dangerous and ill-suited the makeshift courses were for racing and testing. He also argued that spectators did not get their moneys worth, Fisher proposed building a circular track 3 to 5 miles long with smooth 100–150-foot-wide surfaces. Such a track would give manufacturers a chance to test cars at sustained speeds, Fisher predicted speeds could reach up to 120 mph on a 5-mile course. He visited the Brooklands circuit outside London in 1907, and after viewing the banked layout, in December 1908, he convinced James A. Allison, Arthur Newby, and Frank W. Wheeler to join him in purchasing the property for $72,000. Construction of the started in March 1909. Fisher had to downsize his planned 3-mile oval with a 2-mile road course to a 2. 5-mile oval to leave room for the grandstands
23.
Pole position
–
In motorsport the pole position is the position at the inside of the front row at the start of a racing event. This position is given to the vehicle and driver with the best qualifying time in the trials before the race. This number-one qualifying driver is referred to as the pole sitter, historically, the fastest qualifier was not necessarily the designated pole-sitter. Different sanctioning bodies in motor sport employ different qualifying formats in designating who starts from pole position, often, a starting grid is derived either by current rank in the championship, or based on finishing position of a previous race. In contrast to contemporary motorsport, where only a participant is designated pole-sitter, prior to World War II. The term has its origins in horse racing, in which the fastest qualifying horse would be placed on the part of the course. Originally in Grand Prix racing, grid positions, including pole, were determined by lottery among the drivers, prior to the inception of the Formula 1 World Championship, the first instance of grid positions being determined by qualifying times was at the 1933 Monaco Grand Prix. Since then, the FIA have introduced many different qualifying systems to F1, between 1996 and 2006, the FIA made 6 significant changes to the qualifying procedure, each with the intention of making the battle for pole more interesting to an F1 viewer at home. Traditionally, pole was always occupied by the fastest driver due to low-fuel qualifying, the race-fuel qualifying era between 2003 and 2009 briefly changed this. Despite the changing formats, drivers attempting pole were required between 2003 and 2009 to do qualifying laps with the fuel they would use to start the race the next day. An underfuelled slower car and driver would therefore be able to take pole ahead of a better, in this situation, pole was not always advantageous to have in the race as the under-fueled driver would have to pit for more fuel before their rivals. With the race refueling ban introduced, low-fuel qualifying returned and these decisions are no longer in play. Since the reintroduction of the rule in 2011, this applies to the quickest first session time. Since 2014, the FIA has awarded a trophy to the driver who wins the most pole positions in the season, indicates that the driver won the World Championship in the same season. IndyCar uses four formats for qualifying, one for most oval tracks, one for Iowa Speedway, one for the Indianapolis 500, and another for road and street circuits. Oval qualifying is almost like the Indianapolis 500, with two laps, instead of four, averaged together with one attempt, although with just one session. At Iowa, each car takes one qualifying lap, and the top six cars advance to the race for the pole position. The result of the race determines positions 1–10
24.
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
–
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car series using a silhouette racing car based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe. From 2000 onwards, this new DTM continued the former Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, since 1997 many ideas have been discussed in order to find a compromise for rules of a new DTM. As too many races were planned outside Germany, no Championship status was granted by the DMSB, Alfa Romeo, who at the time were mounting successful campaigns in the European Touring Car Championship, did not return to the series. BMW was also involved in the ETCC and was not satisfied with a championship only for Germany, Audi did not enter as they insisted on using their signature quattro 4WD. Unlike the previous incarnation which primarily used sedan models like the Mercedes-Benz W201, Opel used the upcoming Coupé version of the Astra as in the concept car, and Mercedes the CLK model which already was used as a pattern for the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR. Attempts of Zakspeed to enter with a car looking like a Volvo C70 were not approved, the 1999 STW-Supertouring-champion Christian Abt could not defend his STW title as this series was also discontinued, with Opel moving into DTM. Abt used the Audi TT as a basis, as Audi had no suitable 2-door coupé, in May 2000, the new DTM started with the traditional Hockenheimring short track version. Some cars still had no or few sponsorship decals, while Opel could match the speed of most Mercedes in the 2000 season, the hastily developed Abt-Audis were mainly outclassed. As the TT shape had rather poor aerodynamic properties, Abt was allowed to use a form later. Further benefits like a rear wing helped the Abt-Audi TT-R win the DTM championship in 2002 with Laurent Aïello. In 2000, Manuel Reuter came second in the championship, after that year, no Opel driver was among the top three, with few podium finishes and no victory for the disappointing lightnings. The Opels did not win in most of their entries in the VLN endurance races as they were testing, but the speed was impressive. They won however the 2003 Nürburgring 24 Hours against factory efforts by Audi, after their successes with the Audi R8 and the official support of the Abt-TTRs at the Nürburgring, Audi finally joined the DTM as a factory entry in 2004. The three constructors involved decided to switch to saloon bodies, the road models used as patterns since 2004 are the Audi A4, Opel Vectra GTS and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. All dimensions, like wheelbase, are identical in order to equal opportunities without the actual design of the road cars having any influence. Initially the gap looked set to be filled by MG Rover, however their plans to enter the series were cancelled after the company collapsed in April 2005. Audi and Mercedes fielded 10 cars each in 2006, but the important television deal with the television station ARD required three marques in 2007. Rumours surfaced that Alfa Romeo would return to the DTM in 2007 and these rumors were helped by Alfa Romeo Sport boss Claudio Berro being seen in the Barcelona paddock
25.
Persson Motorsport
–
Persson Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Germany. Managed by Ingmar Persson, they have competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since their formation in 1993, in the old DTM, from 1993 to 1996, their drivers included Uwe Alzen and Bernd Mayländer, the Formula One Safety Car driver. Over this period, Persson were the best privateer team, three years in succession between 1993 and 1995, the DTM was resurrected in 2000 and Persson returned with Tiemann and Peter Dumbreck. In 2001 they gave future F1 driver Christijan Albers his DTM debut alongside Thomas Jäger, katsutomo Kaneishi raced for the team in 2003, while Stefan Mücke and Markus Winkelhock raced for them in 2004. In 2005 they gave future race-winners Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green their DTM debuts, former F1 driver Jean Alesi raced for them in 2006 alongside Alexandros Margaritis and Mathias Lauda. Unsurprisingly he was signed by the factory AMG-Mercedes team for 2008, in 2009 Perssons drivers are British duo Jamie Green and Susie Stoddart, with Green winning the third round of the 2009 season at the Norisring
26.
HWA Team
–
HWA Team is the motor racing team of HWA AG, a German company, based in Affalterbach, that also develops and builds vehicles and components for Mercedes-AMG. HWA is responsible for managing the AMG Mercedes team in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, HWA AG was founded in 1999, and takes its name from Hans-Werner Aufrecht, who established AMG in 1967. Towards the end of 1998 Aufrecht sold a majority interest in AMG to DaimlerChrysler AG, as part of the process, the motor racing department and parts of the customised vehicles construction business were spun off and transferred to HWA AG. HWA AG develops and builds the DTM racing cars and engines used by the HWA Team and they also develop and build engines for Formula Three racing cars, based on Mercedes-Benz production engines
27.
Alcamo
–
Alcamo is the fourth-largest town in the province of Trapani in Sicily, with a population of 45,307 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distance of about 50 kilometres from both Palermo and Trapani. Nowadays the town includes an area of 130.79 square kilometres and is the second municipality as for population density in the province of Trapani. Alcamo is bounded by the Tyrrhenian Sea on the north, Balestrate and Partinico on the east, Camporeale on the south and Calatafimi-Segesta and its most important hamlet is Alcamo Marina which is about 6 kilometres from the town centre. Alcamo is situated in the middle of the Gulf of Castellammare, at 258 metres above the sea level and at the foot of Mount Bonifato, at the altitude of 500 metres there is the Nature Reserve of Monte Bonifato. The territory of Alcamo includes also Alcamo Marina, used mainly as a summer resort, the climate is mild, with higher rainfall during winter than summer. The average annual temperature is 16.9 °C, with temperatures in August. The average annual rainfall is 558 mm, rainfall is particularly scarcer in July and more abundant in December. One of the hypothesis connects the present name to the Arab word al-qama, another supposition is that it had been derived from the name of the Muslim leader who probably founded the town in 828 AD and whose name was al-Qāmūq. According to some people this hypothesis was invented by Leo Africanus who had told this story without consulting any document on the subject, besides, according to some scholars, the name Alcamo would derive from caccamu, a dialectal word referring to the plant Citrullus colocynthis. One of the most important finds is an axe from the Neolithic, from the quotations by Lycophron we know that in old times there was an inhabited centre on Mount Bonifato called Longuro. According to an old story, this settlement was founded by a Greek colony which had escaped from the destruction of the town of Troy, during the Roman period the inhabitants of Longuro moved to the foot of the mountain so they could practice agriculture in the surrounding lands. The town was called Longaricum, this appears in the Itinerario di Antonino Pio. According to a supposition the two appearing on Alcamo gonfalon would represent both the towns of Longaricum and Longuro. Alcamo was founded in 828 by the muslim commander al-Kamuk, though other sources date its origin to about 972. The first document mentioning Alcamo is dating back to 1154, in a written by the Berber geographer Idrisi who was given this task by Ruggero II in order to get a collection of geographic maps. This hamlet was called Alqamah by Arabs, in the Middle Ages Alcamo was largely inhabited by Muslim people, whose numbers declined after the Norman conquest of Sicily, begun in 1060. Alcamo was divided into four hamlets named San Vito, San Leonardo, SantIppolito, but a series of Arab revolts between 1221 and 1243 led King Frederick II to move most of the Arab population to a colony at Lucera, while Christians from Bonifato came to inhabit the town
28.
Riesi
–
Riesi is a comune in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region Sicily, located about 110 kilometres southeast of Palermo and about 20 kilometres south of Caltanissetta. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 11,678, Riesi borders the following municipalities, Barrafranca, Butera, Mazzarino, Pietraperzia, Ravanusa, Sommatino. Riesi was founded in the 13th century, in the period of Arab rule over the island, the area was called abandoned place or fallow. Until the 1920s, many of the inhabitants worked in the nearby sulphur mines Trabbia. The owners of the mine greatly exploited the impoverished population, many families had to let their children work in the mines as indentured servants in order to survive. As you enter the city today, there is a memorial commemorating the sufferings of the miners. In 1961, the Waldensian minister Tullio Vinay founded the Servizio Cristiano to fight poverty, in the beginning, the key aims were to promote literacy among children and teenagers and later initiatives to promote agriculture and vocational training. Today, the Waldensian church operates a kindergarten, a school, a guest house, a family health centre. Riesi suffers from strong organized crime and it is the hometown of the notorious Mafia boss Giuseppe Di Cristina. Every year, conflicts within the Mafia lead to casualties, in the spring of 2006, President Giorgio Napolitano dismissed the mayor and the city council from their offices because of evidence for links to organized crime. Until a new election of the city council in 2008 and also in past periods, high poverty before the close of World War II and the difficult social situation until today have forced many Riesini to emigrate. Popular destinations, apart from the cities in Italy, have been Belgium. Many Riesini still leave their homes after graduating high school in order to find a job or training in one of Italys large cities. Therefore, Riesis actual population lies far below the official number, since the decline of the sulfur industry, the city lives subsists on agriculture. Olives, almonds, wheat, fruit, artichokes, and other vegetables are cultivated, there are a cooperative and two private oil mills. The wine cooperative of the region is located in Riesi, where it operates a wine press, there is also a small goldsmith manufacturer and a few small mechanical engineering companies, including Meccanotecnica Riesi. Traditionally, the population has been Catholic, in the 19th century, the Waldensians, an old Protestant church from Northern Italy, gained influence through missionary activity in many parts of Sicily. For a short period, more than half the population called itself Waldensians and this caused the Curia to send the Salesians of Don Bosco to the island in order to reconvert the turncoats
29.
Tifosi
–
Tifosi is an Italian word that means fans and is used to describe a group of supporters, especially in sports. Tifosi is used for a mixed gender or a group, masculine singular is tifoso, feminine singular tifosa. Tifosi literally means those infected by typhus, in the sense of acting in a febrile manner. The word is used to describe fans of clubs in football. The main goal is to choreograph fan support with flags, banners, coloured smoke screens, flares, drums, for most teams city rivalries, colours, coat of arms, symbols, and the overall iconography have roots in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. It has become common to use the word Tifosi to refer to the supporters of Scuderia Ferrari in Formula One, Italian motor racing fans are well known for their love of Ferrari, though they have also been staunch supporters of other Italian cars such as Maserati and Alfa Romeo. The Tifosi provide Formula One with some of its most stunning images and it has not been uncommon for the Tifosi in Italy to actually cheer for a non-Italian driver in a Ferrari passing an Italian driver in another make of car for the lead of a race. Patrese himself had only passed Tambay for the half a lap earlier. The recent increase in their ranks can be traced to the rise of Michael Schumacher. One driver who never actually drove for the Prancing Horse, and he drove for the Williams team at the 1988 Italian Grand Prix at Monza substituting for an ill Nigel Mansell. Bergers win handed McLaren their only loss of the 16-race 1988 season, the word is commonly used to describe fans along the roadside at professional road cycling races in Italy such as Tirreno–Adriatico, Milan–San Remo, the Giro dItalia, and the Giro di Lombardia. Passionate supporters of Italian cycling teams & cyclists are called the tifosi
30.
Gilles Villeneuve
–
Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve, known as Gilles Villeneuve, was a Canadian racing driver. Villeneuve spent six years in Grand Prix racing with Ferrari, winning six races, an enthusiast of cars and fast driving from an early age, Villeneuve started his professional career in snowmobile racing in his native province of Quebec. He moved into single seaters, winning the US and Canadian Formula Atlantic championships in 1976 and he was taken on by reigning world champions Ferrari for the end of the season and from 1978 to his death in 1982 drove for the Italian team. He won six Grand Prix races in a career at the highest level. In 1979, he finished second by four points in the championship to teammate Jody Scheckter, Villeneuve died in a 140 mph crash caused by a collision with the March of Jochen Mass during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. The accident came less than two weeks after an argument with his teammate, Didier Pironi, over Pironis move to pass Villeneuve at the preceding San Marino Grand Prix. At the time of his death, Villeneuve was extremely popular with fans and has become an iconic figure in the history of the sport. His son, Jacques Villeneuve, became Formula One world champion in 1997 and, to date, Villeneuve was born in Richelieu, a small town just outside Montreal, in the largely French-speaking province of Quebec in Canada and grew up in Berthierville. In 1970, he married Joann Barthe, with whom he had two children, Jacques and Mélanie. During his early career Villeneuve took his family on the road with him in a motorhome during the racing season and he often claimed to have been born in 1952. By the time he got his break in Formula One, he was already 27 years old, niki Lauda said of him, He was the craziest devil I ever came across in Formula 1. The fact that, for all this, he was a sensitive and his younger brother Jacques also had a successful racing career in Formula Atlantic, Can Am and CART. Gilles son, also named Jacques, won the Indianapolis 500 and CART championships in 1995, Villeneuve started competitive driving in local drag-racing events, entering his road car, a modified 1967 Ford Mustang. He was soon bored by this and entered the Jim Russell Racing School at Le Circuit Mont Tremblant to gain a racing licence and he then had a very successful season in Quebec regional Formula Ford, running his own two-year-old car and winning seven of the ten races he entered. The next year he progressed to Formula Atlantic, competing there for four years and he won his first Atlantic race in 1975 at Gimli Motosport Park in heavy rain. In 1976, teamed with Chris Harrisons Ecurie Canada and factory March race engineer Ray Wardell, he dominated the season by winning all but one of the races and taking the US and he won the Canadian championship again in 1977. Money was very tight in Villeneuves early career and he was a professional racing driver from his late teens, with no other income. In the first few years the bulk of his income came from snowmobile racing
31.
Indianapolis 500
–
The Indianapolis 500 is an automobile race held annually at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is held over Memorial Day weekend, which is typically the last weekend in May and it is contested as part of the Verizon IndyCar Series, the top level of American Championship Car racing, an open-wheel formula colloquially known as Indy Car Racing. The name of the race is often shortened to Indy 500, the event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, which comprises three of the most prestigious motorsports events in the world. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is upwards of 250,000, the inaugural running was won by Ray Harroun in 1911. The race celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, and the 100th running was held in 2016, alexander Rossi is the defending champion. The most successful drivers are A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, the active driver with the most victories is Hélio Castroneves, with three. Rick Mears holds the record for most career pole positions with six, the most successful car owner is Roger Penske, owner of Team Penske, which has 16 total wins and 17 poles. For a list of races and winners, see List of Indianapolis 500 winners, the Indianapolis 500 is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5 mile oval circuit. Drivers race 200 laps, counterclockwise around the circuit, for a distance of 500 miles, since its inception in 1911, the race has always been scheduled on or around Memorial Day. Since 1974, the race has been scheduled for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, practice and time trials are held in the two weeks leading up to the race. Traditionally, the field consists of 33 starters, aligned in a grid of eleven rows of three cars apiece. The event is contested by Indy cars, a formula of professional-level, single-seat, open cockpit, open-wheel, as of 2015, all entrants utilize 2.2 L V6, twin-turbocharged engines, tuned to produce a range of 550–700 horsepower. Chevrolet and Honda are the current engine manufacturers involved in the sport, firestone, which has a deep history in the sport, dating back to the first 500, is the exclusive tire provider. The race is the most prestigious event of the IndyCar calendar and it has been avouched to be the largest single-day sporting event in the entire world. Likewise, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself is regarded as the worlds largest sporting facility in terms of capacity, the total purse exceeded $13 million in 2011, with over $2.5 million awarded to the winner, making it one of the richest cash prize funds in sports. Due to safety issues, the race is not held in wet conditions, in the event of a rain delay, the race will be postponed until rain showers cease, and the track is sufficiently dried. If rain falls during the race, officials can end the race, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex was built in 1909 as a gravel-and-tar track and hosted a smattering of small events, including ones for motorcycles. The first long distance event, in conditions, was the 100-lap Prest-O-Lite Trophy in 1909
32.
Legion of Honour
–
The Legion of Honour, full name National Order of the Legion of Honour, is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte. The order is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction, Chevalier, Officier, Commandeur, Grand Officier and Grand-Croix. The orders motto is Honneur et Patrie and its seat is the Palais de la Légion dHonneur next to the Musée dOrsay, in the French Revolution, all French orders of chivalry were abolished, and replaced with Weapons of Honour. The Légion however did use the organization of old French orders of chivalry, the badges of the legion also bear a resemblance to the Ordre de Saint-Louis, which also used a red ribbon. Napoleon originally created this to ensure political loyalty, the organization would be used as a facade to give political favours, gifts, and concessions. The Légion was loosely patterned after a Roman legion, with legionaries, officers, commanders, regional cohorts, the highest rank was not a grand cross but a Grand Aigle, a rank that wore all the insignia common to grand crosses. The members were paid, the highest of them extremely generously,5,000 francs to an officier,2,000 francs to a commandeur,1,000 francs to an officier,250 francs to a légionnaire. Napoleon famously declared, You call these baubles, well, it is with baubles that men are led, do you think that you would be able to make men fight by reasoning. That is good only for the scholar in his study, the soldier needs glory, distinctions, rewards. This has been quoted as It is with such baubles that men are led. The order was the first modern order of merit, under the monarchy, such orders were often limited to Roman Catholics, and all knights had to be noblemen. The military decorations were the perks of the officers, the Légion, however, was open to men of all ranks and professions—only merit or bravery counted. The new legionnaire had to be sworn in the Légion and it is noteworthy that all previous orders were crosses or shared a clear Christian background, whereas the Légion is a secular institution. The jewel of the Légion has five arms, in a decree issued on the 10 Pluviôse XIII, a grand decoration was instituted. This decoration, a cross on a sash and a silver star with an eagle, symbol of the Napoleonic Empire, became known as the Grand Aigle. After Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804 and established the Napoleonic nobility in 1808, the title was made hereditary after three generations of grantees. Napoleon had dispensed 15 golden collars of the legion among his family and this collar was abolished in 1815. The Légion dhonneur was prominent and visible in the French Empire, the Emperor always wore it and the fashion of the time allowed for decorations to be worn most of the time
33.
Sicily
–
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
34.
Monte Carlo Rally
–
The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and southeast France. Previously, competitors would set off all four corners of Europe and ‘rally’, in other words, meet. From its inception in 1911 by Prince Albert I it was an important means of demonstrating improvements, in 1909 the Automobile Club de Monaco started planning a car rally at the behest of Albert I, Prince of Monaco. The Monte Carlo Rally was to start at all over Europe. In January 191123 cars set out from 11 different locations, the event was won by Rougier in a Turcat-Méry 25 Hp. The rally comprised both driving and then somewhat arbitrary judging based on the elegance of the car, passenger comfort, the outcry of scandal when the results were published changed nothing, so Rougier was proclaimed the first winner. The 1966 event was the most controversial in the history of the Rally and this elevated Pauli Toivonen into first place overall. Rosemary Smith was also disqualified from sixth place, after winning the Coupe des Dames, in all, ten cars were disqualified. Teams threatened to boycott the event, the headline in Motor Sport, The Monte Carlo Fiasco. As recently as 1991, competitors were able to choose their starting points from approximately five venues roughly equidistant from Monte Carlo itself, for the driver, this is often a difficult choice as the tyres that work well on snow and ice normally perform badly on dry tarmac. The Automobile Club de Monaco confirmed on 19 July 2010 that the 79th Monte-Carlo Rally would form the round of the new Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. To mark the event, the Automobile Club de Monaco has also confirmed that Glasgow, Barcelona, Warsaw. This rally features one of the most famous special stages in the world, the stage is run from La Bollène-Vésubie to Sospel, or the other way around, over a steep and tight mountain road with many hairpin turns. On this 31km route it passes over the Col de Turini, grönholm went on to finish fifth, but Solberg was forced to retire as the damage to his car was extensive. In the same event, Sébastien Loeb set one of the fastest times in the modern era, Sospel has an elevation of 479m, and the D70 has a maximum elevation of 1603m, for an average gradient of 6. 7%. The Turini is also driven at night, with thousands of watching the Night of Turini. In the 2007 edition of the rally, the Turini was not used, for both the 2009 and 2010 event the stage was run at night and shown live on Eurosport
35.
Rally racing
–
Rallying is a form of motorsport that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars. Rallies may be won by pure speed within the stages or alternatively by driving to a predetermined ideal journey time within the stages, the term rally, as a branch of motorsport, probably dates from the first Monte Carlo Rally of January 1911. Until the late 1920s, few if any other used the term. The first of these races was the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race of June 1895, won by Paul Koechlin in a Peugeot. Levassors time for the 1,178 km course, running virtually without a break, was 48 hours and 48 minutes, an average speed of 24 km/h. Speeds had now far outstripped the safe limits of dusty highways thronged with spectators and open to traffic, people and animals, there were numerous crashes, many injuries. The French government stopped the race and banned this style of event, from then on, racing in Europe would be on closed circuits, initially on long loops of public highway and then, in 1907, on the first purpose-built track, Englands Brooklands. Racing was going its own separate way, Italy had been running road competitions since 1895, when a reliability trial was run from Turin to Asti and back. The countrys first true motor race was held in 1897 along the shore of Lake Maggiore, from Arona to Stresa, the first Alpine event was held in 1898, the Austrian Touring Clubs three-day Automobile Run through South Tyrol, which included the infamous Stelvio Pass. Seventy vehicles took part, the majority of them trade entries and they had to complete thirteen stages of route varying in length from 43 to 123 miles at average speeds of up to the legal limit of 12 mph, and tackle six hillclimb or speed tests. On rest days and at lunch halts, the cars were shown to the public in exhibition halls, the Motor Cycling Club allowed cars to enter its trials and runs from 1904. In 1924, the exercise was repeated as the Small Car Trials, in Germany, the Herkomer Trophy was first held in 1905, and again in 1906. This challenging five-day event attracted over 100 entrants to tackle its 1,000 km road section, a hillclimb and a speed trial, but sadly it was marred by poor organisation and confusing regulations. One participant had been Prince Henry of Austria, who was inspired to do better, another trial was held in 1910. These were very successful, attracting top drivers and works cars from major teams – several manufacturers added Prince Henry models to their ranges. The first Alpine Trial was held in 1909, in Austria, by 1914, the competitive elements were slight, but getting to Monaco in winter was a challenge in itself. A second event was held in 1912, two ultra long distance challenges took place at this time. The New York–Paris of the year, which went via Japan and Siberia, was won by George Schuster
36.
Kart racing
–
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports. Karts vary widely in speed and some can reach speeds exceeding 260 kilometres per hour, American Art Ingels is generally accepted to be the father of karting. A veteran hot rodder and a car builder at Kurtis Kraft. Instantly popular, Karting rapidly spread to countries, and currently has a large following in Europe. The first kart manufacturer was an American company, Go Kart Manufacturing Co, in 1959, McCulloch was the first company to produce engines for karts. Its first engine, the McCulloch MC-10, was an adapted chainsaw two-stroke engine, later, in the 1960s, motorcycle engines were also adapted for kart use, before dedicated manufacturers, especially in Italy, started to build engines for the sport. The chassis are made of steel tubing, there is no suspension, therefore chassis have to be flexible enough to work as a suspension and stiff enough not to break or give way on a turn. Kart chassis are classified in the USA as Open, Caged, all Commission Internationale de Karting - Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile or CIK-FIA approved chassis are Straight and Open. Open karts have no roll cage, Caged karts have a roll cage surrounding the driver, they are mostly used on dirt tracks. In Straight chassis the driver sits in the center, Straight chassis are used for sprint racing. In Offset chassis the driver sits on the left side, Offset chassis are used for left-turn-only speedway racing. The stiffness of the chassis enables different handling characteristics for different circumstances, typically, for dry conditions a stiffer chassis is preferable, while in wet or other poor traction conditions, a more flexible chassis may work better. The best chassis allow for stiffening bars at the rear, front, braking is achieved by a disc brake mounted on the rear axle. Front disc brakes are used in most shifter kart classes and are popular in other classes, however. Shifter karts have dual master cylinders, one for the front, professionally raced karts typically weigh 165 to 175 lb, complete without driver. Avanti, Tony Kart, Trulli, Birel, CRG, Gillard, Intrepid, Kosmic, Zanardi or FA Kart, emmick, Coyote, Bandit, Shadow, MGM, Titan, PRC and Margay are American companies producing kart chassis. Amusement park go-karts can be powered by 4-stroke engines or electric motors and they are adequate for racing and fun kart applications
37.
Renault 5 Turbo
–
The Renault 5 Turbo or R5 Turbo is a high-performance hatchback automobile launched by the French manufacturer Renault at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1980. The car was designed for rallying, but was also sold in a street version. A total of 3576 R5 Turbos were manufactured during a production run. The distinctive new rear bodywork was styled by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, in standard form, the engine developed 160 metric horsepower and 163 lb·ft torque. At the time of its launch it was the most powerful production French car, the first 400 production 5 Turbos were made to comply with Group 4 homologation to allow the car to compete in international rallies, and were manufactured at the Alpine factory in Dieppe. Once the homologation models were produced, a version named Turbo 2 was introduced using more stock Renault 5 parts replacing many of light alloy components in the original 5 Turbo version. The Turbo 2 was less expensive, but had nearly the same levels of performance, top speed of 200 km/h, to differentiate it from the Turbo 2, the original 5 Turbo is often referred to retronomously as Turbo 1. The concept of a mid-engined small Renault returned with the 1998 announcement of the Renault Clio V6, all the motorsport derivatives were based on the Turbo 1. The factory pushed the engine output up to 180 PS for the Critérium des Cévennes,210 PS for the Tour de Corse, driven by Jean Ragnotti in 1981, the 5 Turbo won the Monte Carlo Rally on its first outing in the World Rally Championship. The 2WD R5 turbo soon faced the competition of new Group B four-wheel drive cars that proved faster on dirt, in 2004, Sports Car International named the R5 Turbo number nine on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s. Renault 5 Turbo Lécole du Groupe B, Renault 5 Turbo 2 //, retrieved on 1 August 2008
38.
Formula Three
–
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America, F3 is not cheap, but is regarded as a key investment in a young drivers future career. Success in F3 can lead directly to a GP2 seat or even a Formula One test or race seat, Formula Three evolved from postwar auto racing, with lightweight tube-frame chassis powered by 500 cc motorcycle engines. Cooper came to dominate the formula with mass-produced cars, and the income this generated enabled the company to develop into the senior categories, other notable marques included Kieft, JBS and Emeryson in England, and Effyh, Monopoletta and Scampolo in Europe. John Cooper, along with most other 500 builders, decided to place the engine in the middle of the car, the 500cc formula was the usual route into motor racing through the early and mid-1950s. Other notable 500 cc Formula 3 drivers include Stuart Lewis-Evans, Ivor Bueb, Jim Russell, Peter Collins, Don Parker, Ken Tyrrell, from a statistical point of view, Don Parker was the most successful F3 driver. Although coming to motor racing late in life, he won a total of 126 F3 races altogether, and was described by Motor Sport magazine as the most successful Formula 3 driver in history. Although Stirling Moss was already a star by 1953, Parker beat him more than any driver, and was Formula 3 Champion in 1952, again in 1953. He took the title for a time in 1959. In 1954, Parker took on a man named Norman Graham Hill as his mechanic and general assistant. Some years later, now using his name of Graham. Parker retired from Formula Three after the 1959 season, and chose not to move to Formula 2 or Formula 1 because of his age. However, he did race for one season, representing Jaguar in the British Saloon Car Championships. As a retirement gift in 1961, Jaguars Lofty England presented him with a specially-designed 3.8 litre Jaguar Mark 2 and it was claimed to be the fastest Mark 2 Jaguar had built, being tested at 140 mph on the newly opened M4 motorway in 1963. 500cc Formula Three declined at an international level during the late 1950s, although it continued at a level into the early 60s. A one-litre Formula Three category for four-cylinder carburetted cars, with heavily tuned production engines, was reintroduced in 1964 based on the Formula Junior rules and these engines tended to rev very highly and were popularly known as screamers, F3 races tended to involve large packs of slipstreaming cars. The screamer years were dominated by Brabham, Lotus and Tecno, early one-litre F3 chassis tended to descend from Formula Junior designs but quickly evolved. For 1971 new regulations allowing 1600 cc engines with an air intake were introduced
39.
International Formula 3000
–
Formula Two had become too expensive, and was dominated by works-run cars with factory engines, the hope was that Formula 3000 would offer quicker, cheaper, more open racing. The series began as a specification, then tyres were standardized from 1986 onwards, followed by engines. The series ran annually until 2004, and was replaced in 2005 by the GP2 Series, Formula 3000 replaced Formula Two, and was so named because the engines used were limited to 3000cc maximum capacity. Initially, the Cosworth DFV was a choice, having been made obsolete in Formula One by the adoption of 1.5 litre turbocharged engines. The rules permitted any 90-degree V8 engine, fitted with a rev-limiter to keep power output under control, as well as the Cosworth, a Honda engine based on an Indy V8 by John Judd also appeared, a rumoured Lamborghini V8 never raced. In later years, a Mugen-Honda V8 became the thing to have, eclipsing the DFV, costs, not unlike the senior series, were getting out of control. The first chassis from March, AGS and Ralt were developments of their existing 1984 Formula Two designs, although Lolas entry was based on and looked very much like an IndyCar. The form book was rewritten in 1988 with the entry of the ambitious Reynard marque with a new chassis. Dallara briefly tried the series before moving up to Formula One, at least one unraced F3000 chassis existed—the Wagner fitted with a straight-six short-stroke BMW. This was converted into a car, however. The series was not without controversy, definitive rules for the 1985 season did not appear until the championship was well under way. In 1987 questions were asked about the ability of some of the drivers, in 1989 the eligibility of the new Reynard chassis was challenged - it was raced with a different nose to the one that had been crash tested. This season also saw problems with driver changes - the cost of F3000 was escalating to the point that teams were finding it difficult to run drivers for a whole season. A badly implemented two driver changes per car per season rule meant that cars had to sit idle while drivers with budgets could not race them. In 1991 the performance of some Italian teams attracted attention - they had started using Agips jungle juice Formula One fuel, worth an estimated 15 bhp—giving their drivers a significant advantage. Formula 3000 races during the open chassis era tended to be of about 100–120 miles in distance, held at major circuits, the jewel in the crown of the F3000 season was traditionally the Pau Grand Prix street race, rivalled for a few years by the Birmingham round. Most major circuits in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, in 1996, new rules introduced a single engine and chassis, to go along with tyre standardization introduced in 1986. The following year the calendar was combined with that of Formula One, the series grew dramatically through the late nineties, reaching an entry of nearly 40 cars - although this in itself was problematic as it meant many drivers failed to qualify
40.
Circuit Paul Ricard
–
The Circuit Paul Ricard is a motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, near Marseille, in France, with finance from the eccentric pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a highway, opened on 19 April 1970, its innovative facilities made it one of the safest motor racing circuits in the world at the time of its opening. The circuit had three track layout permutations, an industrial park and an airstrip. The combination of facilities, mild winter weather and an airstrip made it popular amongst racing teams for car testing during the annual winter off-season. The original track was dominated by the 1.8 km long Mistral Straight that is followed by the right hand Signes corner. The long main straight and other fast sections made the very hard on engines as they ran at full revs for extended spells. Nigel Mansell crashed at the place in the same weekend during practice. Mansells crash was the result of a puncture in his left rear tyre causing it to explode at over 200 mph. The Honda powered FW10 holds the race lap record for the circuit when Mansells team mate Keke Rosberg recorded a time of 1,39.914 during the 1985 French Grand Prix. This compared to the slowest car in the race, the 550 bhp naturally aspirated Tyrrell-Ford V8 of Stefan Bellof which could only manage 277 km/h, not surprisingly, Bellof qualified 9 seconds slower than Surer and 12 seconds slower than pole winner Rosberg. It opened in 1970 with a 2-litre sports car race, the circuit hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix on many occasions, the first of which was the 1971 French Grand Prix. In 1986, Brabham Formula One driver Elio de Angelis was killed in an accident at the fast first turn. The length of the Mistral Straight was reduced from 1.8 km in length to just over 1 km, and the fast sweeping Verierre curves where de Angelis had crashed were bypassed. Effectively, after the start, instead of heading into the left hand Verierre sweeper, cars now braked hard and this changed the circuit length for a Grand Prix from 5.81 km to just 3.812 km. This also had the effect of cutting lap times from Keke Rosbergs 1985 pole time of 1,32.462 in his Williams-Honda turbo, the last French Grand Prix held at the circuit was in 1990, the event then moved to Magny-Cours where it ran until 2008. Since then there have been discussions towards reviving the French Grand Prix with Paul Ricard one of the believed to be considered as the venue. During its life of hosting a round of the Formula One World Championship, the Long Circuit was used from 1971-1985, with the Club Circuit used from 1986-1990. On six occasions the winner at Paul Ricard went on to win the World Championship in the same year, ronnie Peterson and René Arnoux are the only Ricard winners who never won the championship
French
Team Schuppan
Will Hoy
Dominic Dobson
AF Corse
Toni Vilander
